Oh! My Albino Merman
by The-Grim-Prince
Summary: AU. Ludwig certainly didn't expect to find an injured merman washed ashore one summer's day on his rented beach house's private section of beach. And the thing he never expected was to fall in love. GermanyxPrussia, human names used.
1. Chapter 1

((I forget how exactly I came up with this story idea a while ago. I was just cycling through random ideas in my head and thought I could do a mermaid story. My friend 'hinted' that I should do a GermanyxPrussia fanfic (her OTP), so I combined the ideas to think about. Then I remembered that Prussia's name is Gilbert. Gilbert. It has 'gill' in it. At that point, I decided that I absolutely _needed_ to write this fic.

Which is funny, because I am allergic to puns.

By the way, did you know that Germans love/are obsessed with beaches? At least, that's what I read in a magazine where Germans declared that they finally found the perfect beach in Europe.

Anyways, I guess I'll start this fic. It's fluff (again), and is AU. I hope you enjoy it as much as my sense of humor does!

Awesome fanfic… commence!))

:::

The sky was particularly sunny today with a hot temperature to the air to be thankful for, especially by beach-goers. The atmosphere wasn't chokingly humid or nosebleed-inducing dry. It was only mid-morning, though, meaning that the day did still have a chance to get hotter. Actually, it was amazing how drastically the weather had changed overnight; from stay-in-the-house stormy to bright and sun-drenched.

Like every morning over the past few weeks, Ludwig began his walk on the small section of private beach that came with his rented beach house. His normal routine was to pick up any trash that may have made its way onto the shore and sand, go back inside to eat his breakfast, then plan the day from there. Most days only consisted of nothing but relaxing on that beach or going to town for lunch or groceries, which never really bothered him. This summer-long vacation was meant to be laid-back and uneventful.

To hopefully take his mind off this past year.

Although, this morning, he noticed something rather large to be trash lying on his beach, where the small waves washed up against the sand. Ludwig carefully approached, trying to figure out what it was. It looked like… a body? Lying facedown in the sand.

He rushed forward to see what the problem was, only to come to a halt about five feet away. True, it was some sort of person, but with one difference. One major difference.

Instead of legs, this 'person' had a big, fishy tail. If that wasn't strange enough, the thing had dull white hair, pale skin, and beautiful pearl-colored small scales on his fin.

Ludwig considered his options. The first decision to be made would be either to try to wake the creature up, or just shove it back into the ocean. Since he wasn't completely heartless, the second option was scrapped. So he should try to wake it up. If it woke up, then Ludwig would try to find out what it needed. If it didn't wake up… Well, he would figure out what choice to make when he got to that point.

Hesitantly, Ludwig went to kneel at the thing's side, then gingerly turned it onto its back. Well, to be quite honest, the flat chest made it likely that it was a boy. But with a grimace, he also noticed the extensive bruising, along with cuts and scrapes covering the body. It looked like some scales on the tail had been ripped up or off, too.

Was the creature dead?

Ludwig took hold of its shoulder, which was uncomfortably dry for something that supposedly came from the sea, and lightly shook it in a wake-up attempt. Nothing happened. Ludwig felt a bit bad, wondering if it had passed away while stuck on the beach.

Although, he realized that since it was a living thing (or once was, at least), it might have a pulse or a heartbeat. It was worth a shot.

Ludwig carefully lowered his head to the thing's chest, laying an ear over the general area that a heart should be. He used a finger to plug his open ear, blocking out the sound of the tide. He listened closely, hoping for the best.

Ludwig could hear it. It was faint and a bit shallow, but it was a heartbeat nonetheless.

Now what to do?

Again, if he pushed the creature back out, it might actually die. It was currently unconscious and non-responsive, so he couldn't ask what it needed. And judging by the fact that its skin was drying up, it probably needed to be put in water. Fast. And since the ocean wasn't the optimal choice at the moment, that only left one option.

Ludwig would have to shelter it in his house. Before anything bad could happen, he sat the thing up. He brought it close to himself, so that they were chest to chest, with the thing's head resting on Ludwig's shoulder. He hugged it close with one arm around its back, and looped the other arm under its butt (?). Since it didn't have knee crooks to put an arm under, he couldn't carry the thing bridal style. Fortunately, he was strong and bigger than the creature.

Careful not to jostle it around too much, Ludwig hurriedly walked back up to the beach house.

…

Ludwig had taken it to his downstairs bathroom and placed it in the tub, since the chlorine in the indoor pool might hurt the ocean animal. His new charge's tail was a little too long for the tub's length, so it sort of stuck up and out over the side of the edge. Ludwig turned the water on to a temperature slightly cooler than lukewarm, and used the removable showerhead to gently rinse the sand off the thing's body, especially away from the wounds. It would also moisturize the skin and scales again. He then turned it off then replaced it, then set everything up so that, this time, the tub would fill with water.

Leaving that to go, Ludwig turned around to get some first aid supplies from under the sink's cupboard. He pulled out some rubbing alcohol and anti-bacterial cream, along with bandages and gauze. It was always good to have these sort of things around, especially when close to a beach that had sharp rocks not too far off shore.

Having everything he needed, Ludwig went to stop the water. The tub was about halfway full. He could already see a few shedding damaged scales floating on top of the water.

Ludwig reassessed the injuries. There wasn't really anything he could do to relieve the bruises, except to just let them heal over time. The largest cuts would have to be taken care of first, then just some general cleaning around the scrapes. The scales should grow back eventually, if this thing was anything like other fish. He also noticed a large scuff starting up the thing's eyebrow, reaching down to its cheekbone. Almost as if the side of its face had been forcibly dragged across pavement. It looked pretty bad, and seemed to have bled into his charge's eye. If he cleaned it, it might start bleeding again. If that was so, he would have to use bandages to cover both that large injury and its eye.

Deciding not to waste time anymore, Ludwig dumped some alcohol onto a washcloth and lightly bathed the hurt parts on his patient's torso. On the larger wounds, he applied anti-bacterial ointment then bandaged them with bandages that wrapped around the torso. If he tried to tape down gauze, it might come off in the water anyways.

He then readied himself for the head injury. Ludwig washed away any sand or grit using the washcloth. Sure enough, it started to bleed. He covered it with gauze, taping it down, then used longer bandages to wrap a few times around its head in order to keep the gauze on. Well, the thing would have to survive with only being able to use one eye for now.

That pretty much took care of everything. Ludwig was surprised that his patient hadn't woken up during this procedure. He hoped that it didn't have internal bleeding. Even if it did, there was no way that it would be safe to bring the creature to a human doctor.

All he could do now was to wait. Though, he realized that all this excitement had worked up a bit of an appetite. Well… nothing should go wrong if he left the thing here by itself for a minute or two.

Ludwig left to make some toast and eggs for himself. It also gave him some time to think about this situation. Well, for starters, he now had some sort of fish creature in his bathtub. Could he call it a mermaid? It did seem to be a boy… So maybe 'merman' might be a better word.

Now he would be pretty occupied with taking care of this merman (if it didn't die on him), since it was too injured to go back home on its own. It's not that he really minded… Ludwig was just expecting to have a nice summer of solitude when he signed up for renting this place. It would be a good way to relax and temporarily forget about the past year.

He would have to figure out what the thing ate, and where to put it. The tub was definitely too small, which meant that he would have to drain the pool and refill it with non-chlorinated water. Hopefully it didn't need saltwater to survive…

As he was transferring the eggs to the plate, next to the toast, Ludwig heard the sound of water being moved around. That would probably be his new guest.

Bringing his breakfast with him, Ludwig returned to the bathroom.

It seemed that the merman had woken up. It was looking around groggily, trying to gain its bearings. As it turned its attention to him, Ludwig saw that the merman had lovely, red eyes (assuming the covered one was the same color). Like the color of rubies. Strangely, he couldn't help but blush a little as it stared at him.

"You're awake," Ludwig said, stating the obvious. He went to sit on the floor beside the tub, moving very slowly. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm hungry," it bluntly answered with a huff. Ludwig was a little surprised that it spoke, talking in his own language.

He offered the plate of eggs and toast without saying anything. Like some sort of uncivilized being, the merman picked up the eggs with his hands, leaving the toast alone. It ate it all quickly, licking its fingers when the food was gone.

"Still hungry?" Ludwig asked.

"No…" it quietly said. "…I'm tired."

Well, it seemed to be a very simple-minded thing, but it was probably just shaken up from whatever put it into this shape. The head injury probably wasn't helping, either.

"Do you have a name?" Ludwig asked as it was starting to fall back asleep.

The merman stared at him, his eye only half-open now. "… Gilbert," he finally replied, then leaned his head back against the tub and fell asleep.

So, Ludwig knew a few things about his guest now. He was an albino mermaid, seemed to be the demanding type… and his name was Gilbert.


	2. Chapter 2

((Are you wondering how I came up with the title? There's this hilarious Japanese movie called "Oh! My Zombie Mermaid!" (it's so horrible that it's good), which I guess is based off of "Ah! My Goddess". So the very base root of my title is from "Ah! My Goddess". But I really based it off that Japanese movie, because I wanted an interesting title. Though, I wonder if it will fit the fanfic when it takes a bit of a dramatic turn later…

I'm liking this idea for a fanfic, though. The only sad thing is that the fun of Germancest has been taken away, since it's an AU. Oh, well.

Anyways, I guess I'll just start the next chapter right now~

I hope you enjoy it. Commence~ ))

:::

Ludwig found himself periodically stopping by his bathroom as he went about his daily routine. Gilbert had fallen asleep and stayed asleep since breakfast. Around dinnertime, Ludwig decided that he should probably try to wake up the merman again. At some point, the thing had turned on its side, curling up a bit (though his tail still stuck out of the edge). Besides, the water probably needed to be changed.

After taking a seat on the edge of the bathtub, Ludwig went to gently place an open hand over the side of Gilbert's face that wasn't bandaged. His charge was burning up. He went to feel the merman's neck and chest, to find that he was hot all over. In response to Ludwig's touch, Gilbert's eyes slowly opened, then fixed a gaze on the human.

"… Do people like you get sick?" Ludwig quietly asked. "You my be running a temperature."

"That's a rude way of asking. Of course we do," Gilbert hoarsely replied. "Why do you care?"

"Because my toilet is too small to flush a fish as big as you," he responded, with just the slightest hint of teasing in his tone. The merman scrunched up his nose in disgust, probably unaware of the sort of funeral that pet fishes received in the human world. "Are you hungry yet?"

Gilbert looked away, down at the water, and shook his head 'no'. He looked about ready to fall asleep again. Watching him slowly succumb to tiredness pulled on Ludwig's heartstrings a bit. It made him feel a bit bad, but at the same time… it was kind of cute.

"What can I get for you? What will make you feel better?" Ludwig pressed, before Gilbert could close his eyes.

"Sleep," he groaned, seemingly a little annoyed with being bothered.

So Ludwig let him do so. He kept on the dimmer light in the bathroom, turning the others off. Leaving the bathroom, he absentmindedly just paced around the house. What if just sleep wasn't good enough? But he didn't want to risk giving Gilbert human medicine and possibly poisoning him.

Ludwig sat down on his couch in the living room, reclining back a bit. He was good with formulating plans of action, but the whole 'merman' thing was a new situation to him. One wrong step, and he could probably kill the thing. It would probably be a good idea to make some more eggs, since it seemed like a safe food for Gilbert to eat. Maybe get some fish from the market-

He opened his eyes, only to be met with darkness. Instantly, Ludwig shot up to his feet. He had drifted off to sleep and didn't even realize it! The digital clock built in to the TV cable box read '12:32AM'.

What if-

Ludwig rushed over towards the bathroom, nearly tripping on a coffee table. His eyes were almost adjusted to the dark, but he still bumped into a corner or two. Reaching the bathroom, he slightly squinted in the dim light. He cautiously came closer to the tub, hoping that nothing bad had happened.

Unfortunately, Gilbert was definitely not doing better. He was flushed red, breathing a bit labored.

Now what to do? This was probably the first time he would have to come up with a plan of action on which someone's life depended on it. Well, it would be a good idea to cool the merman down. Medication was out of the question for now, so more water would have to do. But what if it was the freshwater that was making him sick? Gilbert could need saltwater, for all Ludwig knew. That left one option.

Without a moment to lose, Ludwig reached in and scooped the merman up into his arms. Carefully not to let him slip or bump into anything in the process, Ludwig carried Gilbert out the back door towards the beach where he found him earlier. At least no one would be outside and snooping around at this hour.

He relied on the moonlight to illuminate his path as he grew closer to the water. It was calmly rolling in the night's beautiful atmosphere. Ludwig noticed that he still had his clothes on, but shrugged it off. Right now, he really did not care.

He paused at the water's edge, then started to wade in. As he reached waist-depth, Ludwig noted that he might have to go a bit deeper. He slowly kept going until he was about chest-deep, Gilbert mostly submerged in the water now. Ludwig could hear a faint grumble or groan from the merman as he went slightly deeper.

He kept a firm hold on Gilbert at he lowered him a bit more into the salty ocean water.

Suddenly, the merman grabbed onto Ludwig's arms shakily. He still seemed to be asleep, his eyes closed. "No… Don't let me go," he said in a panicked voice. "Don't throw me away… I'll die… Please… don't let me go…"

Ludwig could feel his own heart break a bit as Gilbert wrapped his arms around the back of Ludwig's neck, pulling himself close. Ludwig embraced him, holding the merman. "It's okay, I'm not leaving you," he quietly coaxed him. "You're not well, so I thought you could use some saltwater. I won't let go of you so soon."

At the sound of the German's voice, Gilbert's eyes opened a little. He looked up pleadingly at his caretaker. He then looked away, resting his head against Ludwig's shoulder as he quietly responded, "Water is water… I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" Ludwig asked, not really convinced.

Gilbert didn't answer, except for his grip tightening a bit.

Deciding to trust him, Ludwig picked up the merman again. He carried him in a gentle yet firm embrace back out of the water and across the sand to the beach house.

Ludwig brought him back to the bathroom, sitting on the floor beside the tub with Gilbert in his arms. Gilbert was still clinging to him. The German reached over to unplug the tub, then refilled it with clean, cool water.

He sat there in that position for a while, unsure of whether or not to replace the merman yet. It was hard to tell if it was asleep again. Ludwig shifted Gilbert's position in his lap to look at his bandaged face. As soon as he did, the merman opened his eye wearily to stare back at Ludwig.

"Sorry. Did I wake you?" Ludwig asked quietly.

"Not really," he answered. "… Why are you helping me?"

Good question. Ludwig wasn't exactly sure, himself. Why wasn't he the type to call the news and press about this sort of discovery? Was he being enchanted by some sort of mermaid magic? It couldn't be, judging by the fact that Gilbert seemed equally confused with this situation.

Before he could try to answer the question, the merman had closed his eye again. Ludwig sighed to himself, slightly amused with how this thing was able to fall asleep so quickly. He carefully lifted him back up, then gently lay Gilbert back down in the tub. The merman pulled Ludwig closer again.

Suddenly, the man felt something light touch upon his cheek. Withdrawing away, Ludwig realized that Gilbert had kissed him.

"Thank you…" the merman muttered tiredly, curling up back on his side.

Ludwig could feel his own face heat up for some reason, and he choked a little on replying, "You're welcome."

…

"I'm not putting that in my mouth!"

Ludwig sighed, having held the thermometer in his hand for about five minutes by now. He sort of preferred when Gilbert was asleep and/or more compliant. "For the last time, it won't do anything bad to you. It's supposed to tell what your bodily temperature is," he explained.

"How do I know that you aren't lying to me?" the merman asked, his arms crossed over his chest.

"I took you in, cleaned your injuries, and fed you only to kill you," Ludwig 'admitted'.

Gilbert frowned, realizing that it did sound a bit ridiculous. Not to mention that he was really hungry, and was told that he wouldn't get that plate of eggs on the counter until he complied. "… Fine."

Ludwig handed him the thermometer, then watched at Gilbert stuck it in his mouth. Hopefully the merman had a body temperature close to a human's temperature. He had no idea what temperature fish usually had. If it was different, then Ludwig would have to make the best guess.

As the thermometer started beeping, Gilbert quickly took it out of his mouth in surprise, nearly dropping it. Ludwig took it from him before it was dropped in the water, ruining the measurement and the device itself. He examined the screen to see what the thermometer had picked up. 37.7 degrees Celsius (99.8 F). It wasn't really bad, but it wasn't exactly good either. Well, at least Gilbert wasn't red or really hot to the touch anymore. Plus, he wanted to eat, which was a good sign.

Not wanting to delay him from nourishment any longer, Ludwig reached back for the plate of scrambled eggs then handed it to the merman. Gilbert took it, and started eating it with his fingers again, ignoring the fork placed on the edge. His manners sort of irked Ludwig, but he couldn't really blame the ocean resident for not knowing.

"Do you need something to drink?" the man asked.

"Drink?" Gilbert responded with a confused look.

"You know… Like food, except liquid like water. You swallow it," Ludwig explained, while making a motion of drinking a glass of water.

Gilbert shook his head. "The skin on the sides of my chest is really porous. I stay hydrated that way."

"Do you need water to breathe?" Ludwig asked, curious about how the merman lived. He had some questions that he wanted to ask at some point.

"Not really. I can breathe air. I often surface to get some. But the water I absorb also helps me breathe," Gilbert explained while eating at the same time.

Ludwig figured that the porous skin provided a way to bring oxygen to his blood. It was pretty interesting.

When Gilbert was finished, he handed the plate back to Ludwig while wiping him mouth with his arm. The man took it, and got up to go put it in the kitchen sink.

"Hey, by the way, this thing I'm in it kind of small," the merman called out. "Don't you have something bigger with more water? I'm a bit uncomfortable!"

Ludwig returned, and said, "I have a pool…"

"Why haven't you put me in that?" Gilbert asked, pouting a bit.

"It's being prepared for you right now. I'm refilling it with water that doesn't have chemicals in it," he explained.

"Oh." Gilbert looked away, blushing slightly from embarrassment. "Hey, when can I get this off my face?" he scratched at the gauze and bandages covering his eye.

"I'll take it off later today. It should be clotted enough to where it will heal without bleeding. By the way, how does your chest feel?"

"… It hurts," Gilbert replied, frowning a bit. "I try not to move too much."

"Can I get you some ice or something?"

"I'll be fine. I've suffered through stuff like this before."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I stand out in the ocean water quite a bit, so I often get attacked by sharks and stuff," the merman explained.

"That sounds rough…"

"I was born this way. So I've been living my whole life fighting and beating crap up so I can survive."

"By yourself?" Ludwig asked.

"……. Yeah."

They were both silent for a bit. Finally, Ludwig said, "I'm going to go check on the pool."

As he stood up, Gilbert quickly demanded, "Wait! I don't want to be stuck here. Take me with you."

"Are you sure? You should probably rest," Ludwig replied, with a hint of worry.

"I'm tired of sitting in here. I want to see how you live."

The man sighed. It's not that he preferred it when Gilbert was debilitated and sleeping, but it was certainly easier to take care of him that way. He wasn't sure if he had ever met someone as stubborn and difficult as the merman.

Relenting, Ludwig went to pick up Gilbert. He held him in a sitting position with one arm as he wrapped his arms around Ludwig's neck. Suddenly, the man was reminded of last night. He blushed at the memory of the kiss he had received on his cheek, and wondered if Gilbert even remembered that.

As he left the bathroom and turned in the direction of the hallway that led to the indoor pool, he was interrupted by the merman.

"Wait! I want to go there!" Gilbert pointed in the opposite direction, towards the kitchen.

"… Alright."


	3. Chapter 3

((Next chapter! Yay! I hope you're having as much reading this as I am having writing this. Lol

I feel like there was something important that I wanted to say but I can't remember what it is now… Eh, whatever it is, it isn't that big. I get on with the story now.

Chapter 3, commence!))

:::

"I've seen some things like this before," Gilbert commented, looking at the kitchen setup as Ludwig held him. His wiggling around didn't make it very easy, but the man managed to keep a good hold.

"Really?" Ludwig asked.

"Yeah. I do know some things about you humans. There are all sorts of sunken ships in the ocean. Not to mention that junk often gets tossed into the water. I have seen stuff like this, but not being used," he explained.

"That must be interesting," Ludwig blankly replied.

"What does that do?" Gilbert asked, pointing at the stove.

"I cook things on it."

"Cook?"

"Like the eggs. I heat them up… and make things safe and good to eat. Speaking of which, what-"

"Now go over there!" Gilbert commanded, pointing at the hallway leading to the living room.

With a sigh, Ludwig complied. Over the course of the next twenty minutes, he was subjected to carrying the merman through every room of the bottom floor while explaining what many of the foreign objects were. Finally, they returned to the living room.

"But I want to see what's upstairs!" Gilbert complained.

Ludwig thought he felt something somewhat tickle his forearm as he sighed. Ignoring it, he replied, "There's really nothing up there, except for my room and another bathroom. My room looks almost exactly like the two extra rooms downstairs, and the bathroom has everything except a tub."

"… Hey," Gilbert quietly said, his grip tightening on the back of Ludwig's shirt.

"Yes?"

"I-It hurts…" the merman said in a somewhat strained voice.

Looking down, Ludwig realized that the feeling on his arm was blood. One of the places on Gilbert's fin that had been rubbed raw was started to bleed, probably irritated from being carried around. "H-hold on! I'll be right back," Ludwig said, carefully lowering the merman down to sit on the floor. The man ran off in the direction of his bathroom.

Within a minute, he came back with gauze and first aid supplies. Gilbert was holding on to the injury to keep from bleeding too much, as a small puddle was starting to stain the rug. Hastening his pace, Ludwig quickly soaked a wad of gauze with rubbing alcohol, and pressed it firmly against the wound after shoving the merman's hand out of the way. Gilbert let out a hiss of pain, clenching and unclenching his fists.

When it was properly sterilized, Ludwig removed the alcohol-soaked gauze and replaced it with a dry wad. As he applied pressure, Gilbert stared at him. Practically feeling the merman's gaze on him, Ludwig couldn't help but blush a bit. For some reason, he had trouble making eye contact with those beautiful ruby-colored irises.

Though, he noticed Gilbert turning away as he went a little red in the face this time.

"I should get you back into some water," Ludwig offered, filling in the uncomfortable silence. "You're starting to get too dry again."

"I can survive a few hours being completely dry before I start to suffer real damage," Gilbert quietly said.

"I would rather not take that chance. I don't want anything bad to happen to you…"

The merman looked at him again, his expression a bit confused yet sad at the same time. He was picked up by Ludwig and slowly carried to the indoor poolroom. The pool was about three quarters full as the garden hose continued to pump water into it. It was a really slow process, since the pool was nearly 40 feet long, the deepest part being 10 feet and the shallow end 3 feet.

The man checked the injury one last time, to make sure the bleeding was properly managed. It had nearly stopped by now. Ludwig walked towards the concrete steps built into the shallow end, slowly stepping down into the water. With the greatest amount of caution, Gilbert was lowered into the water. He sat down on one of the lower steps, the water about halfway up to his stomach.

After checking out his newest rehabilitation space, Gilbert looked up at Ludwig, who was standing in the shallow end of the pool while checking the water quality. Still in his clothes.

"Hey, when can I take this off?" Gilbert asked, pointing at the bandages covering his eye.

"Later tonight. I'm going to do some grocery shopping, and then take it off when I get back. By the way… What exactly do you eat?" he asked.

"Fish. I just catch them and eat them. Sometimes crab or seaweed. And eggs! I really want more of those eggs that you make," Gilbert answered eagerly.

Reminded of his charge's newfound love for eggs, Ludwig couldn't help but smile in amusement a little bit as he looked down at the water again.

"You smiled!" Gilbert declared. "The tightwad can actually smile!"

Ludwig frowned a bit at the comment. "Tightwad… So?"

"So what?"

"Why is that important, that I smile?" Ludwig asked.

Gilbert opened his mouth, but then closed it. He looked away, shoulders hunching forward a bit. "I don't know," he finally answered. Feeling his face heat up a bit, he added, "You just never smiled. At least not around me. You're so serious all the time…"

Ludwig couldn't really think of anything to say about that. He had always been the serious and stern type. If anything, it only increased over the past year. Though, it was more sullen than serious. He didn't feel like explaining to his guest why that was, though.

"… I'm going out to buy some food," Ludwig said, changing the subject as he walked towards the steps. "I should be back within the hour. The pool will probably be filled by the time I get back."

"Can I come with you?" Gilbert asked.

"Sorry, but I can't do that," Ludwig replied. "People don't really know that things like you exist. They will probably freak out, and end up taking you away from me."

"Away? To where?"

"Probably some sort of laboratory with scientists. They'll do nasty tests and experiments with you, and possibly put you on display… Or something like that." Ludwig couldn't help but remember that American movie, 'Splash'.

"I-I see…" Gilbert responded, looking a bit disappointed.

"If you're really curious about the human world, I have something that you might like," Ludwig offered. He left the poolroom as Gilbert swam to the edge to watch him leave. About five to ten minutes later, Ludwig returned, carrying the large TV from the living room into the poolroom. With a grunt, he set it down on the tiled floor. He left again, then returned with the cables needed to plug in the TV. He set everything up, plugging in everything, as Gilbert watched his every movement in curiosity. Remembering the remote, Ludwig also retrieved that from the living room.

Now, everything was set up. The TV was a bit more than five feet away from the edge of the pool's shallow end, which was as far away from the power outlet and cable would allow. Ludwig came to sit next to the edge of the pool, next to where Gilbert was hanging on.

"This button turns it on and off," Ludwig instructed, pointing at the red button at the top right corner of the plastic remote. "If it's too loud, then press this down arrow, and if it's too quiet, press this up arrow," he further instructed, pressing the two buttons under the tiny word 'volume' on the remote in demonstration. He went to press the power button.

Instantly, the TV flickered to life. Gilbert jumped a little in surprise as it did so. The TV had been left on the infomercial channel, where Ludwig had left off on days ago for background noise.

"There are many different programs on," Ludwig continued. Unsure of whether the merman was familiar with numbers, he decided to stick with the two channel buttons. "To see everything that is on right now, you can press either the up or down buttons all you want, until you hit static. When you reach a fuzzy screen with nothing on it, then start pressing the arrow going in the opposite direction that you had been going before. Do you understand?"

A bit overwhelmed and amazed, Gilbert simply nodded. He was handed the remote as he stared at the screen.

Before Ludwig got too far away, he added, "And don't get anything wet. It will stop working, and you could hurt yourself."

"Wait, what about all these other little things on here?" Gilbert asked, motioning to the remote.

"I'll show you those later. I need to go out before it goes too late in the afternoon," the man replied.

The merman turned his attention back to the screen. He hesitantly tried pressing the channel-changing buttons in amazement as Ludwig left.

Ludwig couldn't help but allow another small smile of amusement cross his face.

…

So far, he had bought about three cartons of eggs, some fresh fish, and a few other items that Gilbert could probably eat. Also, he had bought some food that would sustain himself, but not for sharing. It was probably a good idea to keep the food for his charge simple, in case anything too spicy or artificial could possibly make a sea creature sick. The merman was still injured and slightly feverish. He didn't want to take chances and worsen conditions.

Yet… It almost seemed a bit too plain. A bit uninteresting. Trying to formulate some ideas for more dishes, Ludwig remembered a small sushi shop that he had passed by several times during his trips to the small coastal town. Heading in that direction anyways, Ludwig came across the small restaurant wedged in between some other stores.

Hesitantly, he entered through the propped open door. The establishment was rather small. He wouldn't be able to lift his arms without touching the walls. There was only a small bar table stretched across the wall with stools, the counter towards the back. The place was probably meant more for take-out, rather than dining in.

As he reached the counter, a young Japanese man came from the door to the kitchen to meet him. He wore relatively formal robes, despite the really hot summer's day. "Welcome," he greeted with a gentle smile. "Do you need a menu?"

"Ah… No, not really. Do you have some sort of sushi assortment? Like, a whole bunch of things to try put together?" he asked.

"Of course. Would you like anything else with that?" the Japanese man asked as he entered numbers into the cash register.

"No. That's it," Ludwig simply answered. He was given the total, as he handed a credit card over.

The Japanese man disappeared into the kitchen as Ludwig took a seat on a nearby stool. The place wasn't too bad. The decorations really weren't very elaborate, but the atmosphere was relatively nice.

Eventually, the man returned with a bag containing a few plastic take-out boxes.

"I think I have seen you before," the Japanese man said as he handed the order over. "Have you ever passed by?"

"I've never stopped in, but I have walked by," Ludwig answered.

"I see. Well, thank you for your order. Feel free to stop by again, Mr…."

"Ludwig. You can just call me Ludwig," he replied. Giving his name and introduction, Ludwig realized that after these past few days, he had never given his name to Gilbert.

"Nice to meet you, Ludwig. You may call me Kiku. Feel free to stop by again anytime," Kiku responded.

…

When Ludwig returned to his beach house, he immediately went about putting away the groceries except for the things he was serving for dinner. Gilbert seemed to be occupied by himself with the TV. It would give Ludwig some time to get things ready.

It didn't take him much time to put the sushi assortment on the table, then cook some over-easy eggs for the both of them. He had decided to eat the eggs, possibly share the sushi, and then eat something else on his own later.

As he brought out the dish of eggs to the poolroom, then went to turn off the water hose, Gilbert stopped him.

"Wait! I want to eat at the 'dinner table'. That's where humans eat food, right?" the merman asked. He must have learned about that from the TV.

"I guess… But I don't know if you should be out of the water too much…"

"But I want to trying eating like humans! Come on! Just this once? I really, really want to!"

Unable to say no to his guest for some reason, Ludwig let out a sigh. "Hold on for one minute," he said, taking the eggs back. Putting them back on the table in the kitchen, the man went to retrieve a towel from the linens closet next to the bathroom. He brought it back to the large, kitchen sink and soaked it with water. As soon as it was completely coated, he brought it to the kitchen table, and spread it over the seat of a chair. It was rather large, so it had no trouble covering the seat and the back.

Ludwig went back to the poolroom. He switched off the TV as Gilbert swam over to the steps. Ludwig waded down into the water by a step or two, then bent over to pick up the merman. Gilbert clung to him as Ludwig carried him to the kitchen. Carefully, he set the merman down on the chair that was specially prepared for him.

"This is awesome," Gilbert said.

It certainly was a strange scene, an albino merman sitting down at a dinner table.

"Hold still for a second," Ludwig ordered. He leaned over to inspect the bandages covering the side of Gilbert's face that was injured. With the utmost caution, he went to peel off the tape holding down the gauze. Ludwig then unraveled the long bandage wrapped around the merman's head. Now the gauze and bandages was freed enough to be lifted off. He did so slowly, crumpling up the used bandage afterwards.

If Ludwig thought having one red eye fixed on him was bad, he didn't know how intimidating it would be two have two staring at him. He felt his own face heat up slightly as Gilbert looked at him.

"J-just don't pick at the scab. It could scar," Ludwig stuttered, straightening up to go throw the bandages away in the garbage. Gilbert felt his own face, realizing that his cheek, temple, and a bit of forehead were pretty scuffed up.

"I'll take the bandages around your torso off in a few days, since the injuries there are a little deeper," Ludwig added as he went to sit down. He tried not to look at his charge straight in the eyes.

But Gilbert was already distracted by his eggs. "Wow, another way to make eggs? How many ways are there?!"

"Quite a few," Ludwig answered as he started to eat. "I also got some fish for you. It's in the boxes in the middle of the table. But they have a few extra things added to them. It's called 'sushi' here."

They both ate dinner, finishing the eggs (the merman still eating with his hands) and sampling the various pieces of fish in the center of the table. Gilbert seemed to be enjoying himself.

When they were just about finished, the merman suddenly said, "Oh. I noticed that you know my awesome name, but I don't know yours. So tell me."

This reminded Ludwig of what he had been thinking earlier. "It's Ludwig," he replied.

"Ludwig… It sounds just as uptight as you are. You need a better name."

Ludwig frowned. He thought his name was just fine.

"So tell me about yourself," Gilbert continued.

"… I'm from the country of Germany, specifically my house being towards the west of the land-"

"That's it," Gilbert quickly interrupted, even though Ludwig hadn't really said much about himself at all. "Your name is now 'West'. Got it, West?"


	4. Chapter 4

((Sorry for the overdue update! I've just been busy with lots of college stuff. Trust me, I wrote out this whole chapter in my notebooks when I should have paid attention in class. So this was being written, slowly but surely.

Anyways, I'll continue on with the story. I'm sure you want to read what happens next, not my whining~

Next chapter, commence!))

:::

Ludwig had slept on the couch last night, his bed upstairs too far away from the poolroom for comfort. This way, if a certain finned person called for him in the middle of the night, he could most likely hear it. Fortunately the couch was a bit more comfortable than he thought it would be.

As Ludwig got up at the crack of dawn, like usual, he thought that maybe he could go back to part of his previous routine. Being that Gilbert was still tired and weak, chances are he would still be asleep. This would be a perfect time to comb the beach for garbage. Or maybe even find another guest to take care of, if he was unlucky enough.

Ludwig headed upstairs for a clean change of clothes, feeling that it was safe to leave for now. He had been in the same outfit for a few days now, which frankly felt a bit disgusting.

After putting on a clean pair of cargo shorts and a grey tank top, he combed his hair back and headed downstairs. He decided to quickly check on his guest before going outside. Ludwig went to the doorway of the poolroom to take a quick look.

Strangely, he didn't see the merman. He approached the pool, surveying the surface. He had walked to the very edge of the pool at the shallow end when he realized that Gilbert was at the bottom of the water. Motionless.

As fast as he could, Ludwig bolted over to the steps leading into the pool. He hastily waded in, then walked over to where the merman was laying. Taking a breath, he crouched down into the water and grabbed Gilbert's shoulders. Ludwig pulled him up, carefully cradling him.

"Gilbert! Gilbert!!!" he cried out in panic, giving him a light shake or two.

He grimaced in response, and gave a small groan of displeasure in his throat. He rubbed his eye with a fist, and slowly opened his eyes to look up at Ludwig wearily. "What is it?" he whined.

"A-are you alright?" Ludwig asked while loosening his grip a bit, realizing that he had possibly made a mistake. "You were underwater…"

Gilbert just blinked with a frown, not fully coherent yet. "I sleep underwater, too," he finally said. "How early is it….."

"I'm sorry. I woke you up," Ludwig quietly apologized, now a bit embarrassed. "I'll let you rest again."

"… Sit down on the steps," Gilbert ordered before his host could let him go.

Hesitating for a second, the German slowly headed towards the way he came in, holding on to the merman. He sat down on the top step, where the water barely came up to his upper legs. Gilbert shook off his grasp, and went to sit on a lower step to the side. He then just plopped his head down on Ludwig's lap with a tired sigh.

"I can't get comfortable for sleeping in here," Gilbert quietly explained, facing away with his hands brought up to his face.

"I-I see," Ludwig said, glad that the merman couldn't see the blush quickly spreading across his face.

A few minutes of silence passed by. Just when Ludwig was pretty sure that Gilbert was asleep, his charge suddenly said, "Your voice sounded odd… when you calling out my name. Why?"

A bit surprised by this question, Ludwig didn't answer immediately. Finally, he admitted, "I was worried."

"Worried?"

"… I was… scared that something had happened to you," Ludwig haltingly added.

"That's weird," Gilbert responded. Before his host could take it the wrong way, he said additionally, "That… you actually care about me. I've been alone for so long…"

"I see," Ludwig said.

"B-but I'm used to it. I'm ready to go back home to the ocean when I'm healed," the merman said, sounding like he was trying to convince himself more than he was Ludwig.

That was right. Gilbert didn't belong here in such a small pool of freshwater, when he could be in the big blue sea. He knew he shouldn't get too attached to his company, for he would be alone once again eventually. It was nice to have someone around to talk to (although it was mainly Gilbert ordering him around), but it was something that he would have to let go of.

Ludwig was suddenly aware of the fact that Gilbert had slightly turned his head so he could stare at him out of the corner of his eye. And the man realized that he was most likely wearing his emotions on his sleeve at the moment.

"Stay as long as you like," Ludwig said, cracking a forced smile.

"Thanks," Gilbert muttered, burying his face in his host's lap. In less than a minute, he was truly asleep.

…

The merman slept on and off for the rest of the day, occasionally watching TV. Ludwig would turn it off whenever Gilbert slept. Gilbert made sure to sleep with his head above water to not freak out Ludwig.

By dinnertime, the German had run out of the house for a few more errands. One of which included buying more of the sushi pieces that Gilbert seemed to enjoy the most last night. As soon as he put the food down near the pool edge where his guest was waiting, Ludwig left the room.

Gilbert wondered exactly where he was going, wishing that he had demanded to sit at the dinner table earlier. Perhaps it was what he said earlier. It was true that the ocean was his home, but he probably didn't have to seem that ungrateful to West's hospitality. At the same time, Gilbert couldn't help but wonder why he actually felt a bit down for once.

Almost as soon as he was down eating, Ludwig had come back. And he had come back with something rather… odd.

Under one arm he carried a bright blue, inflatable pool bed. It was rectangular, like the size of a sleeping bag, and even had a slightly more inflated part at the top as a sort of pillow.

"I… got this when I went out. You said you were uncomfortable, so…" Ludwig tried to explain, looking a bit embarrassed.

"Th-that's so awesome!!!" Gilbert exclaimed. "What is it?!"

"It floats on top of the water, and you sort of lay on it. So you float, too. But it's cheap, so it will bend under your weight and let some water on your body," he responded.

The merman just stayed where he was, thinking to himself while staring at the pool accessory.

"… I don't know if I understand. Can you show me?" he asked.

Ludwig looked a bit confused, wondering if the concept was really that hard to comprehend. With a bit of hesitation, he walked over to the slightly deeper part of the pool. Gilbert slowly swam over to meet him as he put the pool bed on top of the water. The merman watched as his host slowly inched off the side of the pool, kneeling on the inflated thing. He then lay down on his stomach, his head on the pillowed end. It actually wasn't that bad. The water was flooding on to it a bit, but he was used to getting wet in regular clothes now.

"You just lay on it. Like this," Ludwig said.

Instantly, Gilbert's head popped under the water.

Ludwig didn't even have time to frown and wonder what that was about before he suddenly found himself submerged in the water. The merman had come up under the pool bed and flipped him right off! He came back up coughing, spluttering, and soaking wet to hear Gilbert laughing at him hysterically. His head barely made it out of the water, his feet touching the bottom

"West! That w-was… s-s-so funny!!!" the merman said, gasping for air as he kept laughing. "Your face right now… And you're wet… And your hair's messy…"

"Th… That was very rude!" Ludwig barked, fuming in anger and embarrassment from being tricked so easily. His point wasn't really getting across, as Gilbert continued to laugh.

It died down eventually, as he gave a satisfied sigh. He winced a bit while clutching his torso. "It hurts… But it was worth it," Gilbert said.

"Honestly… You could have warned me," Ludwig huffed.

"But what would be the fun in that?" Gilbert scoffed. The whole idea of what just happened was starting to provoke a giggle or two.

Then, out of the blue, the merman found himself wrapped in the man's arms and pulled close to his chest.

"… You could hurt yourself more. Please calm down," Ludwig quietly said.

Gilbert wanted to make some sort of remark about how he worried too much about him. But…

He carefully went to clear Ludwig's bangs from his eyes with one hand. He pushed the wet, blonde hair up or to the side until he could see the sheepish look on the German's face.

Feeling himself blushing in this awkward silence, Gilbert did something that he knew that they would probably both regret later.

Gilbert lifted his head up to look at Ludwig, allowing himself to remain in the comforting embrace. Slowly, they came together, and their lips met. The two shared a kiss as their hearts connected.

They both knew building an attachment was such a bad idea. But why did this feel so right?

:::

((Again, sorry for the delay! I will also be updating some other things, too.

Right now, I can't honestly tell how many chapters this will be. I know what sequence of events will play out, just not how it will be distributed… ))


	5. Chapter 5

((Ick. I had most of this chapter written out in one of my notebooks, but I forgot the notebook in my dorm room when packing for home. I couldn't update because of finals, then I ran into this problem… So I had to rewrite this chapter to the best of my memory. Grueling…

I hope I didn't leave out any details~

Sorry for the overdue update! Next chapter, commence!))

:::

Over the next few days, the house was filled with uncomfortable silence. Since that specific night, Ludwig had grown increasingly quiet when around Gilbert. He only said something when he needed to, like, "Here's breakfast" or "Here's dinner" or "Are you in pain?" He barely came into the room anymore. When he did, Ludwig wouldn't look at Gilbert straight in the eyes, avoiding his gaze completely.

Three days after that night, Gilbert found himself laying on his stomach on the inflatable pool bed while distantly staring at some traveling channel on the TV. He really wasn't even paying attention at all. His dinner for tonight still lay on the edge of the pool, completely untouched. Like the all of the previous meals of the past days. For some reason, he just couldn't bring himself to eat. He had no appetite at all. He was beginning to feel more weak and drained of energy, having no motivation to swim around or even change the program on TV. Not like he cared anyways.

Gilbert glanced up to see West standing in the doorway of the poolroom. "Do you need anything before I go to bed?" he quietly asked.

The merman shook his head a little bit, and looked back down at the water. He heard Ludwig walk away after dimming the lights in the room a little bit.

There was so much regret filling his head as he remembered what he did. Gilbert was too hasty and got carried away in the moment. When he thought about it deep down, he knew that he had special feelings for his gracious host. That's what he thought, since he hadn't experienced this before. He had never felt a bit choked up around someone or felt lightheaded when someone held him. He wasn't a very social merman anyways, but he knew that what he was feeling was different.

Maybe West didn't think of him the same way.

Gilbert gritted his teeth as he turned his face into the blue plastic. He became more aware of the fact that perhaps he just didn't belong here. Maybe it would be better if he just went home. It would be best to have a talk with Ludwig. He put that as the single item on his list of things to do tomorrow, despite the fact that he still was still suffering from the pain of the tender bruises.

Whatever. He didn't really care about what happened to him at this point anymore. Slowly, Gilbert fell asleep.

. . .

"-ilbert! Gilbert! GILBERT!!! I'm right here!!!"

The merman eyes cracked open in confusion to see that Ludwig was holding him close while standing in the shallow end. For some reason, his throat felt a bit sore…

Ludwig's expression softened at the sight of his guest coming to. "You're okay… I've got you…" he soothingly said, carefully embracing the frail body against his.

"W-West… what…" Gilbert hoarsely let out.

"… You were screaming and calling out my name," the man quietly explained. "Are you… alright?"

Gilbert closed his eyes in shame. Of course he wasn't alright. This made him feel even guiltier now. "Yeah," he lied, feeling tired again.

"You don't look very well," Ludwig observed. He gently felt Gilbert's forehead to check for fever. He didn't feel warm… His complexion was awfully pasty though. Even for an albino. The man looked over at the meal that was left by the pool edge earlier, which consisted of a few over-easy eggs and a tuna fish sandwich (bread was another thing that had been found safe to eat). He now noticed that there was absolutely no change in the arrangement of the food on the plate.

"Have you been eating?" he urgently asked, quickly turning his head to look down at Gilbert again. He gained no response as Gilbert just stared into space with half lidded eyes, away from Ludwig.

Why had he seriously not noticed before? He was sure to clean the plates off after an hour or two. Had he really not paid attention to the fact that the merman was pretty much starving himself? He felt both guilt and panic sweep over him.

He was about to say, 'wait right here for a minute', but did not feel comfortable with leaving his guest by himself at the moment. Without even asking, Ludwig carefully made his way over to the steps while keeping a firm hold on the merman. He carried Gilbert down the hall and to the kitchen. He then carried him to the living room, after assessing that he would be able to see Gilbert from the kitchen.

With the utmost care, Ludwig set the merman down on the couch. He went to get a towel and soak it with warm water in the shower. After slightly wringing it out, he brought it back to lay it on Gilbert to keep him hydrated. His guest seemed to be sleeping again.

Even though his clothes were soaked from rushing into the pool, West went straight to the kitchen to start cooking. Deciding to stay simple, he got the ingredients for chicken broth. He cut up some chicken and sautéed it in a bit of vegetable oil, adding some salt and a tiny bit of ground bay leaves as it was losing its pink color. He left out onions, since onions were practically poison to some animals. He was already taking a chance with the vegetable oil and spices (even if the spices were natural plants). Fortunately, that only took a few minutes. He set on water to boil after putting a lid on the cooking chicken.

Ludwig left it temporarily to check on Gilbert. He knelt by the merman's side, going to gingerly stroke the white locks of hair out of his eyes. Before he knew what he was doing, he gently kissed Gilbert above the brow and muttered, "I'm sorry…"

Feeling his face heat up a bit, Ludwig returned to the stove. Now that the water was boiling and the chicken released its juices, he dumped the chicken into the water. He was sure to scrape every bit of chicken and juice out of the pan so that the broth would thicken up appropriately.

He turned the heat under the simmering broth to low. It would have to be left like that for at least ten minutes. Ludwig put a cover on the pot. Hesitantly, he headed back into the living room. Gilbert hadn't moved since he left a few minutes ago.

The man went to sit on the floor beside the couch. He looked to see if he could turn on the TV, but then remembered that he took it out of this room to give to Gilbert. Ludwig sighed, disappointed in himself. Maybe he overreacted to that kiss those three days ago. Sure, it really took him off guard, but did he genuinely dislike it? He could not confidently deny the fact that he felt like his guest was something special to him. He knew that he hadn't found a stranger that he felt so comfortable around before.

Not since…

Ludwig noticed that about 12 minutes had passed, as he had been lost in thought. The broth should be done by now. He stood up to go check on it in the kitchen. It smelled good as soon as he took off the cover. He took a quick taste test just in case. It was ready. He took it off the heat, setting it on a potholder on his counter. Usually, he used a strainer to remove the bits of chicken at the bottom, but was in too much of a rush to do so at the moment.

Ludwig retrieved one of his deepest bowls from the cupboard and a soupspoon from the utensil drawer. Using a ladle, he filled the bowl with plenty of broth. He brought it into the living room, temporarily putting it on the coffee table. The man went to grab the two pillows from the other couch that he had used to sleep downstairs. Quickly yet cautiously, he sat up Gilbert a bit to stuff the pillows behind his back. The merman was close to sitting upright now.

Ludwig picked up the bowl of broth, and went to sit on the edge of the couch right next to Gilbert. He balanced the bowl on his lap so he could grab Gilbert's shoulder.

He gave him a few very light shakes. "Wake up... Come on, wake up. Gilbert, get up," he coaxed the merman.

He was rewarded with Gilbert slowly opening his eyes. "I'm... in the living room," he quietly let out, looking a bit confused.

"Yes, I carried you here. I have something for you to eat," Ludwig explained. "Try to stay awake."

Gilbert watched West as he took a spoonful of the broth and blew over to it cool it down a bit. He brought the spoon over to the merman's mouth, in hopes that he would open his mouth. Gilbert looked tired and confused, but compliantly did so.

Ludwig carefully fed the soup to the merman, being sure to give him time to swallow. Much to the man's pleasure, his guest finished the whole bowl. Ludwig went to get more from the kitchen. Fortunately, he ate another half a bowl before turning away from the next spoonful.

"You had me worried," Ludwig admitted.

"… Really?"

Ludwig nodded with a grim look on his face.

"I'm glad I didn't have to feed you by mouth, too," he sighed, counting his lucky stars.

"What do you mean?" Gilbert quietly asked.

"You know… mouth to mouth…"

The merman looked a bit confused still. "Show me," he said.

Ludwig kept himself from letting out a groan of displeasure. He doubted that the concept was really hard to understand. This was probably some sort of test. But Ludwig didn't think he could turn Gilbert down, especially when he had those beautiful ruby eyes fixing their gaze on him.

It was embarrassing, but not revolting. The man scooped up some broth from the bowl with the spoon. He put the broth in his mouth, careful not to swallow it. Hesitantly, Ludwig leaned towards the merman. He pressed his lips to Gilbert's lips, parted the other's lips with his tongue, and let the soup flow from his mouth to the merman's. He heard Gilbert swallow it before he pulled back.

He looked a little surprised, but not a bad kind of surprised. He smiled a bit. "That was weird," he suddenly snickered.

"W-well excuse me for caring about you," Ludwig stuttered, looking a bit offended with a blush on his face.

"You care about me?" Gilbert asked with a genuine smile on his face.

"… Yes. I do, Gilbert," Ludwig quietly admitted.

"West… why is it hard for someone to get close to you?" he asked, thinking about the last three days of silence. If Ludwig really did feel the same way, why did he avoid Gilbert until he was practically dying?

Ludwig visibly winced, giving Gilbert the impression that he really asked something wrong.

Before he could take back the question, West said, "I'll tell you in the morning. It's really late right now. So get some sleep." He got up to wet another towel for Gilbert and put the remained broth in the fridge for later. When he came back, Gilbert had thrown one of the pillows to the floor so he could lay down more. He was already asleep.

With a tender smile, he covered the merman with the wet towel before going to lay down on the other couch.

. . .

In the morning, Ludwig hadn't said a single word. He had picked up Gilbert from the couch so he could sit at the kitchen table and eat breakfast. The entirety of breakfast, West didn't say a word. He did watch the merman eat, though, just to make sure that he wouldn't skip a meal again.

Again, in silence, he picked up the plates to wash them in the sink. Gilbert sat there, practically trembling as he kept himself from saying anything hasty. He was getting awfully impatient, though.

Ludwig joined him at the table again, sitting across from the merman. He looked down at the table, his arms resting on the surface with his hands folded. His facial expression was a bit hard to read at the moment.

After a minute, he finally spoke. "Close to seven months ago, Roderich and Elizabeta Edelstein passed away in a terrible accident. Roderich was my brother, and Elizabeta his wife, my sister-in law," he quietly said.

Gilbert's eyes widened a bit in shock.


	6. Chapter 6

((This could turn out to be the longest fanfic I have written. I can roughly estimate how long it will be, but I don't know for sure. I do know how everything will wrap up and end, though~

A bit of a short chapter, but a lot of story in it. Sorry for the delay. I hope you enjoy!

Next chapter, commence!))

:::

Gilbert couldn't think of anything to say at the moment. He felt sorry that he asked, yet at the same time, he wanted to know more. He wanted to know all about West, to better understand him and get closer to him.

When Ludwig saw the look of sympathy and shame on his guest's face, he thought that maybe it was best to leave it at that. He rested his forehead on his folded hands, wondering how long it had been since he had talked about this. Or if he had even talked about this to anyone at all. It still hurt.

Suddenly, he felt something rubbing the back of his head. Ludwig looked up a bit to see that Gilbert had reached over to tenderly do so.

The man sighed. As Gilbert continued to pet him as if he were a cat, he felt like he needed to go on. "I didn't know him for my whole life. Roderich. I had no idea that I had a brother until a few years ago. … I grew up only knowing my father, who refused to talk about my mother. Then, my father disappeared one day. He just left, probably tired of being a responsible single parent. I was never close to him, anyways…"

Gilbert threw his body weight around a bit to scoot the chair over, so that he was close to being next to Ludwig. Figuring that he needed to coax him into talking more, he went to soothingly stroke the back of his neck.

"… I lived on my own for years. Then suddenly, this stuck-up, dark-haired man wearing glasses and a dress shirt showed up on my doorstep. He said he was my younger brother. I remember that we stood there for a while, before I remembered that I should invite him in. We talked for hours, even though we couldn't remember each other at all. We were so different. I was a bit gruff and awkward, while he was sophisticated and well-mannered. Yet… we were both very stubborn. If that's a trait that can even relate us."

"What about your mother?" the merman quietly asked.

"She died of illness. But right before she did, she told Roderich that he had an older brother, who was only a year older than him. She gave him my name, and the general area that I was supposed to be living in. So he came to find me," Ludwig explained.

"He was from Austria, yet he would come to visit me once or twice every month for a weekend. Very occasionally, I would visit him. He was a bit more well-off than me, so it easier for him to travel more often… This continued for about a year. We got along as if we had known each other since we were kids. I opened up to him, and he valued my opinion. He valued it so much, that I was the first person he knew to meet his girlfriend. Her name was Elizaveta. They had met when he had traveled to Hungary on a business trip a year before. She was beautiful, with a lovely personality and a smile so warm that it could melt glaciers. Later on, he asked me what I thought of her. Me, who knew him for less time than some of his best friends. I encouraged him to stay with her. She was truly in love with him… And he with her."

Ludwig paused for a minute or so. He then continued, "He proposed to her, and they married not too long later. Even though he was now a married man, Roderich still spent time with me. Sometimes, Elizaveta would come to visit as well. And as with any normal couple, they had their disagreements. My brother came to me for advice, which was agonizing to do for someone like him. Even Elizaveta would ask me for help or guidance with an issue. Somehow, I was able to help them. Even though I knew Roderich for only about two to three years."

"It was… nice. I regret that I had never met my mother, yet my brother and his wife seemed to be all the family I could ever need. They worked so hard to include me in anything they did, as if we knew each other for our whole lives." Ludwig went silent at this point as he buried his face a bit further into his folded hands. Gilbert didn't push for any more information as he just went to pet the man's head again. He knew that Ludwig would continue to talk, after spilling all of that. He just needed a breather.

It took almost five minutes for him to carry on with his story. Throughout all this, he had managed to keep an even tone. Finally, he said, "Close to a year and a half since they had been married, I received a call. It was from a hospital not too far from their home. …Do you know what a car is?"

Remembering from all the TV he had watched, Gilbert quietly said, "Yes." That single word made him realize that his throat felt tight.

"They were in a car accident when some drunk idiot ran a red light. Like a domino effect, more cars got into the accident. ……. Roderich had died almost instantly. Elizaveta was in critical condition at the hospital. I jumped into my car for the long drive without hesitation. But before I was able to get there, she also slipped away…"

Ludwig went silent again. It was probably safe to assume that he was finished talking.

Gilbert leaned forward to embrace the man, putting a hand over the other's. Slowly, Ludwig turned towards him. With a shaky sigh, he nuzzled his face into the merman's shoulder while carefully hugging him a bit. Gilbert smiled a bit, happy to know that he wasn't the only vulnerable one around here.

"I'm sorry I asked you about this earlier… I didn't mean to make you upset," Gilbert apologized.

"… It's alright," Ludwig responded. "Maybe it's a good thing that I talked about this…"

His guest hesitantly nodded in reassurance.

"Well, thanks for listening…" Ludwig quietly said, going a little red in the face. He received a smile in return.

"You should go back to sleep, West. You're not looking so good," Gilbert suggested comfortingly. He also needed some time alone to think to himself about all this information given to him.

"I guess… I do feel a bit tired," he admitted. "I'll take you back to the pool, and then take a quick nap."

"Sounds like a plan," Gilbert said as Ludwig went to lift him out of the seat. While he carried the merman down the hallway, Gilbert tried to think of something to say to reassure him further. But he felt like anything he said would be a lie.

'Don't worry, I will never leave you.' It was what he wanted to say the most, but he knew that it was a promise that he could never keep.


	7. Chapter 7

((Yeah… So I'm really sorry I haven't updated this in a long time… I guess I sort of became unmotivated. I don't have a better excuse than that. So please forgive my absence! And here is the next chapter~ A little short, but I do have plenty of good stuff planned for the rest of the story.

So anyways, let's get onwards with the latest chapter of this fic. Commence!))

:::

"I told you my story… What about yours?" Ludwig asked. After taking a good nap, he had come to lay back on the inflatable pool bed with his hands behind his head. He actually had shorts made for swimming on today. This time, Gilbert was floating on his stomach with his head lying on his folded arms, resting on West's stomach. They floated lazily in the pool, deciding to just rest for the day.

"… Well I already told you that I stand out in the water. So I beat up stuff that tries to attack me," Gilbert bragged with a smirk.

"I remember that. But are there other people like you? Friends or family?" Ludwig added.

Gilbert went a bit quiet, glancing away. "… You know how I just said that I stand out in the water, so stuff attacks me? … Well, I guess my mother thought that taking care of me would be dangerous for herself. I can't really remember her, I was pretty young when she left… There are some others like me. But they also avoid me," he explained, growing a bit sullen.

"I'm sorry," Ludwig apologized, feeling a bit bad for asking.

"It's okay. With less of them bothering me, I had plenty of time to explore sunken ships and watch people like you on boats and stuff. I know a lot about your people because of that," Gilbert said with a grin, though he didn't look entirely happy about it. It was almost as if he was convincing himself.

"You watched people on boats?" Ludwig asked, finding the thought a little funny.

"Yeah! It was weird seeing people who had two legs, rather than a tail. They act funny, too. But it was interesting. There were some who were by themselves, some of them that were family… They were all having a good time together," Gilbert said, at first enthusiastically but then ending in a more quiet tone.

"I guess it's a good thing. It definitely made it easier for you to communicate with me. I think I would have had a harder time helping you, otherwise," Ludwig praised him, trying to cheer the merman up.

It didn't work, as Gilbert only gave a slight nod. Looking away, he slowly withdrew from lying on Ludwig's stomach. The German sat up a little in confusion, watching the merman sink down into the water. He was now sitting on the bottom of the pool.

Ludwig waited for a minute or so, just staring at the merman beneath about ten feet of water. He didn't seem to be coming back up anytime soon. The man sighed, wondering if he should have avoided the 'friends and family' topic. Although, if he didn't, he knew he would feel inconsiderate. Ludwig inhaled and exhaled deeply a few times to stretch out his lungs. He then dove down head first, holding his breath.

He soon came to the bottom, where Gilbert was sitting alone with a sad expression on his face. The merman noticed him instantly.

"I… I thought I was fine by myself," he started to say, his voice underwater as clear as a bell. "All I needed was me, and that was it. Nobody else mattered, since they would only act stupid to me. But then that storm happened. I was injured and ended up here. You… you've done so much for me… Now I don't want to think about being alone again! Why are you making me feel so different?"

Suddenly, Gilbert felt himself being embraced by Ludwig. He was pulled close in a hug, as the human understood what he was saying. Gilbert's chest ached, but having someone holding him made him feel a little better. He felt better than he ever had felt before. Everything now just felt okay.

"Sorry… I guess I don't handle change very well," Gilbert scoffed, trying to shrug this little episode off.

Although he wasn't expecting a verbal answer from a human underwater, he noticed that Ludwig seemed a little… limp.

"Oh…" Gilbert let out with an irked expression. He quickly yet gently grabbed Ludwig by the shoulders, and swam up to the surface.

Gilbert kept their heads above water, waiting for Ludwig to say something. Strangely, he didn't do anything. He looked like he had fallen asleep. Gilbert gave him a light shake, but to no avail. A bit confused, he then pinched Ludwig's cheeks, and then tried opening his mouth. Still nothing. "West… what the hell, West?" he let out, unsure of what to do. Gilbert patted his back under water, thinking of something he saw on TV. That didn't work. But he couldn't do it any harder without letting go of the human.

Gilbert quickly brought Ludwig over to the edge of the pool, and put all his strength into hoisting the German's chest out of the water and over the side of pool, his lower half still in the water. Now that his hands were free, Gilbert immediately went about pounding Ludwig's back.

He was pleased to see Ludwig tense up in response after a few good hits. His cheeks puffed up a bit, then he suddenly coughed up what looked like a gallon of water. The human roughly coughed and hacked up whatever traces of foreign water were left inside him. Taking in labored breaths, he stared at Gilbert, who looked rather pleased with himself at the moment.

"I brought you back to life. I'm totally that God person in movies," Gilbert let out with a triumphant smirk.

. . .

The two of them ate dinner together at the table that night. Gilbert was enjoying leftover chicken broth and some lightly grilled fish. He said he wanted eggs for dessert, but Ludwig could see that he was distracted and filling up on chicken broth. Another new thing that he could safely eat.

"Are you sure that I can't go out and see stuff in town?" Gilbert asked after taking a big gulp of broth.

"Positive. That's something that I just can't risk," Ludwig sighed, though he wished he could comply.

"I guess the TV is fine then," Gilbert said, not wanting to sound completely ungrateful despite his disappointment.

"Sorry…" the German quietly said. He finished eating his own grilled fish, then started to wash dishes.

"West… why don't you have any decorations or anything in here? Like pictures and stuff? It's a bit dull," Gilbert criticized, looking around.

"It's not my house," Ludwig simply answered, as his chest started to feel a bit heavy.

"It's… not?" the merman let out, surprised.

"No. I rented it for the summer. I can stay here for one more month. Then I have to go back home," he explained, remaining facing away as he washed dishes. He didn't want to see what expression was crossing his guest's face right now.

It was disappointment, and a little bit of fear. "Is your other house near the ocean?" Gilbert asked.

"…. No. It's very much inland," Ludwig answered, his chest feeling much heavier.

"Do… do you have a pool there?" Gilbert then asked.

"… I don't," the man replied, now biting back tears.

"Oh," the merman simply let out, looking away. Everything went quiet, as they couldn't think of anything to say now. They both knew that there was no place for Gilbert to stay at Ludwig's house.

"West… West, let's watch tv tonight," Gilbert suggested, changing the topic as he felt as though someone was squeezing his throat. "You show me your favorite channel."

"Alright," Ludwig responded, turning his head to crack a smile at his guest.

Gilbert could easily see that Ludwig's eyes were a little wetter than usual.

. . .

They were in a similar position as before. Ludwig was lying on his back on the blue pool bed, as Gilbert was laying his arms and head across the human's stomach. As the merman was fixated on reruns of old war movies, Ludwig could inspect his healing a little easier.

Wherever Gilbert had been scraped or cut, the scabs were now coming off. He now had slightly raw pink skin healed over the injuries. His bruises were also less prominent, slowly fading from dark blue-ish purple to green and yellow. His scales were also growing back nicely. The once really raw parts had smaller scales ever-so-slowly growing. His condition was already greatly improving.

Though, Ludwig did notice that Gilbert had grown slightly paler over time, if possible. And when he was breathing air when surfaced, his breathing would become a bit shorter. Ludwig could even feel it now, as if Gilbert was trying to take a deep breath, but only getting short ones. The man decided to keep an eye on this. So far, Gilbert seemed to be in good spirits. Ludwig hoped he was just imagining things.

"Why are the people fighting so much?" Gilbert asked, looking at the battlefield on TV a bit confusedly.

"I don't know. I guess people just don't get along sometimes," Ludwig answered. War was never a simple topic.

"I see…" Gilbert sighed, wondering if he could understand even half of the things that humans did.

"I think we should be going to sleep now," Ludwig said, after a few more minutes of watching the movie. Gilbert got off of him to allow him to vacate the pool bed. "It's pretty late."

He kept an eye on Gilbert as the merman pulled himself onto the pool bed now with a yawn. He looked pretty tired. Ludwig smiled, and went to kiss Gilbert on the forehead. The merman blushed a little with a pout, but of course he wasn't angry.

"Just shout if you need anything. I'll be in the living room," Ludwig said, then waded away through the water, back to the pool steps. He got out, and went to turn off the TV.

As he reached the door, he turned to look at Gilbert, who was already asleep. Ludwig found it remarkable that he was able to help the merman. It was practically a miracle that he survived, with the German's help. He was definitely happy to have the strange ocean creature around.

Ludwig turned back towards the hallway, walking down to the living room. He took his usual, comfortable spot of the couch for the night.

It was from then that Gilbert started to get sick.


	8. Chapter 8

((Next chapter~ Yay, updates! I'll try as hard as I can to stay consistent, but I'm not the kind of person who updates every Tuesday or something. I can keep you on your toes~ Muhahaha

Anyways, not too many chapters left after this one. I'm estimating three to four. I think. I hate when I have to end my stories, but I guess all good things must come to a close. I'm totally going to miss the characters and your reviews. *sadness*

Okay, no more fixating on that, it's not coming up that fast. Onwards to the next chapter! Commence!))

:::

Ludwig was having a good time with Gilbert. They were getting to know each other more over a few days. He had a hard time believing in the 'love at first sight' thing, so it was nice to start appreciating Gilbert for who he was, from his charisma to his obnoxiousness.

Ludwig shook his head with a slight blush. _Did I just say love?_ he thought to himself, glad he wasn't admitting any of this out loud. He had feelings for Gilbert. Most definitely. But actually thinking about it, and thinking about saying it, was a little embarrassing.

It was great to see the merman healing so quickly. Being injured and debilitated really did not suit Gilbert's boisterous personality.

But about four days after their initial conversations about their backgrounds, Gilbert started coming down with headaches.

Ludwig was naturally observant, so he picked up on it right away when seeing the merman rubbing his forehead and growing really quiet. It was occasionally accompanied with an expression of distress, though it would disappear in a flicker.

The German got out a tray of ice and a plastic bag in the kitchen. He emptied about half of the ice cube tray into the bag, and then sealed it. After replacing the tray in the freezer, he retrieved a clean, relatively thin dish-drying towel from a drawer nearby. Wrapping the bag of ice in the towel, Ludwig headed over to the poolroom.

Seeing the TV on, without Gilbert really paying attention to it, he turned down the volume a bit. He also switched off the light, allowing natural light from the open windows to dimly illuminate the room. When the setting was a little easier on the ears and eyes, Ludwig slid into the pool near Gilbert's blue pool bed.

He was just sort of lazily floating around on it, lying on his stomach. He was so immobile at the moment that he looked to be sleeping. But Ludwig could see Gilbert watching him as he headed over. He slowly and gently pulled it and the merman into the shallower end, where Ludwig was only belly button deep. Ever so gently, he placed the bag on ice on Gilbert's left temple, holding it there.

"This… isn't very awesome…" Gilbert quietly and evenly muttered, looking a bit upset.

"Everybody gets headaches sometimes," Ludwig soothingly reassured him, even though he didn't know if the fact was true for both humans and merfolk.

Gilbert sighed and closed his eyes as the ice was beginning to dull the pain. He wanted to nod, but it was too painful to move his head at the moment.

.

The next morning, Ludwig was washing some dishes close to lunchtime. He had kept breakfast a bit simple, two sunny-side eggs and one piece of lightly toasted bread. The stack of dishes in the sink building up for a while had been bothering him, so it was nice to use a few spare minutes to take care of that.

"West… West!" Gilbert hoarsely called out, a note of grief in his tone. It was followed by a few coughs, as the man quickly rinsed the soap off of his hands and dried them. "Ludwig!"

Ludwig ran to the poolroom in alarm, as the merman barely ever called him by his real name. When he entered, he could instantly see what was wrong.

Gilbert was leaning against the edge of the pool, on the side closest to the door. He weakly clung to the smooth concrete, visibly shivering. On the floor of the pool edge in front of him was a relatively large puddle of vomit. He was doubly positive that it came from the merman, as his mouth was dirty from throwing up.

After being momentarily stunned, Ludwig rushed over. Avoiding the mess of sickness, he got into the pool beside Gilbert. He gently went to pull the merman away from the edge, and held him close. Ludwig spotted a towel nearby, and slowly headed towards it.

"Does you stomach hurt?" Ludwig urgently asked, able to feel Gilbert shaking like a leaf against him.

"Y-yeah," Gilbert answered with a shudder, looking absolutely terrible. He didn't seem too bad less than an hour ago before eating…

Ludwig carefully wiped Gilbert's mouth clean, as he gave a grimace. "Are you going to be sick again?" Ludwig quickly asked him.

Gilbert didn't audibly answer or nod his head, but he glanced up at the man with a pained expression that said 'yes'. With that, Ludwig picked him up gently, and went as quickly and smoothly as possible to the pool steps. He got out of the water and walked in the direction of the bathroom down the hall.

Unfortunately, Gilbert felt his stomach suddenly lurch about halfway there. He unwillingly emptied the rest of the contents of his stomach right onto Ludwig's chest, soaking his shirt. Ludwig frowned in heavy concern, but didn't drop or shake Gilbert in surprise.

As soon as they got to the bathroom, Ludwig carefully sat Gilbert on the floor right in front of the toilet. He opened the lid, making it clear that any further vomit needed to end up there.

"I'll be right back," Ludwig quickly, said then rushed out of the bathroom. He went as fast as he could to the bedroom where he kept his clothes. He pulled out a fresh shirt for himself. He carefully pulled his current shirt off, avoiding getting the sickness on him. Not concerned with it now, he rolled it up and tossed it into the trash bin nearby. Ludwig left the room with the new shirt, pulling it on as he rushed to the kitchen. He took a nearby dishtowel and soaked it with warm water from the sink.

He returned to the bathroom, where Gilbert was still sitting on the floor. It looked like he had thrown up a little more in the toilet, but the majority of it had ended up on the poolroom floor and Ludwig's shirt.

"S-sorry…" Gilbert let out, cracking an apologetic and forced smile.

"It's alright. You weren't feeling well," Ludwig reassured him, going to sit by his side. He reached over to softly wipe Gilbert's face clean. "Can you rest in the tub for a while? I can get to you easier that way if something else happens."

Gilbert hesitantly nodded. Ludwig got up and went to fill the tub with lukewarm water. When it was nearly full, he turned off the water. He then knelt beside Gilbert, and picked him up. He slowly moved him over into the tub, laying him down inside. He felt a bit bad that the merman's tail was sticking out, but it was better than him getting worse at the bottom of the pool, where Ludwig would have a harder time reaching him. But at least Gilbert seemed to be relaxing in the warm water.

"Will you be alright if I leave for a few minutes?" Ludwig quietly asked.

Gilbert looked over at him pitifully, and slowly nodded. Ludwig didn't want to leave him alone, but he could let the mess by the pool just sit there.

He quickly went to wash and sterilize the area in the poolroom, and then returned to the bathroom. Gilbert had fallen asleep while Ludwig was gone. The man went to sit beside the tub with a worried sigh. He reached into the water to hold the merman's hand.

.

During the next two days, Gilbert's nausea seemed to stop on its own. At the same time, so did his appetite.

Ludwig picked up the plate of cold hardboiled eggs from beside the pool, passing a glance to Gilbert. The merman was sleeping on his pool bed nearby. He had grown a bit paler, and dark circles were becoming visible under his eyes. The man looked down at the plate that was supposed to be lunch. Out of the three eggs, one of them had a medium-sized bite taken out of it. The toast and other two eggs were untouched.

He turned to leave, but was interrupted by the sound of Gilbert's voice.

"West…" he lightly groaned.

"Yes?" Ludwig responded, kneeling down closer.

"Why did you turn off the TV? I was… watching something…" he complained in a tired drawl.

The TV had been off ever since the merman threw up two days ago.

Before Ludwig could tell him, Gilbert said, "Stop doing that…" Ludwig didn't disturb him as he closed his eyes and fell asleep again. He left the poolroom with a sigh, going to throw out the leftover food. He was running out of food, but was too afraid to leave the merman alone at this point. He couldn't say that all of this developed suddenly, thinking back on Gilbert's slowly declining health despite his injuries healing. But he had no idea what could happen next.

Ludwig spent most of the day reading on a comfortable bench in the poolroom. He was sure to keep a close eye on the merman as he slept. There were no changes for hours. He had remained so still for so long that the water of the pool was barely moving.

Around dinnertime, the German decided to make chicken broth again before the chicken expired. This time, he cooked it a bit slower so that the broth was richer in flavor. When it was finished cooking, he returned to the pool to retrieve Gilbert.

He waded in beside the pool bed, disturbing the calm water. Ludwig gently shook the merman's shoulder. Gilbert frowned and cracked open an eye to stare at his caretaker.

"It's time for dinner," Ludwig informed him. With that, he picked up Gilbert from the pool bed, and carried him out of the water. The merman felt a bit heavier and more limp than usual, as he gripped a fold on Ludwig's shirt weakly. He was brought over to a chair with a wet towel draped over it, and gingerly placed down.

Ludwig went to ladle some broth into two bowls, then brought them to the kitchen table for them to eat. He placed the bowl down in front of Gilbert, and then took a seat close by him. Ludwig started to eat his soup as Gilbert just stared down into the bowl.

"It's going to get cold," Ludwig warned him, after a few minutes passed.

"… I'm full…" Gilbert quietly responded.

"You haven't touched your dinner, and you had one bite of egg hours ago," Ludwig sighed.

"I'm fine," he simply responded, pushing the bowl away a little.

"Gilbert, you're getting sick," Ludwig informed him, though it made him nervous to admit it. "You need to eat, and keep your strength up if you want to get better."

"I said I'm fine!" Gilbert spat, raising his voice a little.

Ludwig wrinkled his nose in frustration. "You're not… I'm sorry, but… you're not fine," he calmly said.

Gilbert sighed, calming down again. "I'm not hungry, Ludwig…" he quietly insisted.

The man sighed, knowing that he couldn't really force him to eat at this point. "If I make something later, will you eat then?" he offered.

Gilbert nodded his head in response.

Though, when Ludwig grilled a slice of fish for him later that night, he didn't eat a single bite of it.

.

Another two days passed, as the merman spent more and more time asleep. When he was awake, he had started to develop a headache again and acted quite irritable. Gilbert would apologize later, though it didn't ease Ludwig's mind at all. The merman ate about once a day, and it would be only enough food to barely cover Ludwig's palm.

In the afternoon, Ludwig has turned on the TV to a low volume. He sat on the pool steps, with Gilbert on his pool bed pulled over right in front of the man. He was slightly awake, watching some TV as Ludwig gently stroked his hair.

"When are we going back to town?" Gilbert quietly and suddenly asked with a slight frown.

"… You haven't been to the town," Ludwig reminded him.

"Oh… But what about that ship? … The shipwreck? We looked though it… and found another stove," Gilbert added, making no sense.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Ludwig quietly replied, feeling as though his heart was sinking into his stomach.

"Oh…" Gilbert let out, turning his focus back to the TV. He went quiet for a little while, but remained awake. He was ready to fall asleep at any second, though. "Thanks for bringing in the TV… yesterday…. I was getting… bored…"

Ludwig didn't respond, as he bit his lip.

He knew by now that Gilbert wasn't going to recover like this.

Ludwig was losing him.

.

.

It pained him to admit it, but Ludwig needed to get more food. He was completely out of eggs, vegetables, and bread, and the only meat he had left was one slice of fish. Gilbert still wasn't really eating, but Ludwig still made food for him. The man had woken up early today, as usual. It was about two hours before he normally served breakfast.

Ludwig went to check on his charge in the poolroom. He had tethered the pool bed to the railing beside the pool's steps in the shallow end. He was afraid of the merman falling off into the deep end where Ludwig couldn't check on him.

Gilbert was sleeping through most of the day now. When he woke up, he would cycle between confused and irritable. Plus, he barely even had the strength to hold himself upright anymore. What little he ate, the German had to spoon feed to him.

At this moment, he was peacefully and soundly sleeping. He was a bit pale, and looked tired even when asleep. He had been particularly touchy last night when Ludwig tried to feed him. He had only managed to get the merman to drink a small gulp of soup before Gilbert complained that it was making him feel worse. It probably wasn't true, but he was in no mood to listen to Ludwig's pleads for him to eat. Ludwig had to let him succumb to fatigue, gently rubbing his back as he had fallen asleep.

Whether he liked it or not, Ludwig had to leave Gilbert alone to do some grocery shopping. He was already starting to worry, and he hadn't even left the room yet.

With a sigh, he walked over to the pool steps. Trying not to disturb the water too much, Ludwig walked over to Gilbert's side. He gazed down at the merman in concern and sadness. Gingerly, he leaned over to lightly kiss Gilbert on the lips. The merman scrunched up his nose a little as Ludwig withdrew again. But then he cracked a slight smile in his sleep.

Ludwig couldn't stop a small smile grace his own lips. "I'll be back soon," he quietly said, then got out of the pool to put on some dry shorts and shoes.

He decided to drive his car into town today, since it would be faster. The center wasn't incredibly far away, but he just wanted to shop for food, and then go back quickly. As he drove through the streets, he noticed that it was a little busy today. People seemed to be enjoying the weather.

Ludwig had a hard time finding a parking space, feeling a bit bitter over the fact that no one could know about how much of a hurry he was in. He parallel parked a block away from the grocery store. It wasn't a supermarket, and thus didn't have its own parking lot. He got out of the car, trying not to slam the door in frustration. Now he was thinking about how he kissed Gilbert. What if that was their last kiss? What if he came back and Gilbert was…

Ludwig shook his head to get rid of the negative thoughts. Though, something seemed to linger in his mind. He remembered when he and Gilbert first kissed. It wasn't too long after he had rescued the merman and moved him to the pool.

His lips back then… they seemed to taste a bit salty. It wasn't bad; it was just a minor detail that he had found interesting afterwards, when he was trying to sort out his feelings. Thinking about it now was making his blush a little. Somehow, he tasted like the salt of the ocean, even though he had been swimming around in a freshwater pool for a little while.

Now, Gilbert's lips didn't taste salty.

Ludwig felt that he was catching on to something now. He craned his neck to look around the street a bit. Finally, he spotted it. The Internet café that he had stopped by on his first morning on vacation to get some coffee. He hated delaying getting back to the merman any further, but he knew he might find an answer to what was going on. It was worth the risk.

In a few minutes, he had quickly bought a cup of coffee and sat down at a free computer. He had no intention of drinking any, but only paying customers could use the computers.

With the cup of coffee sitting out of the way of the keyboard and mouse, Ludwig went to open up the web browser on the screen. After a few seconds, a window opened to the café's homepage. He clicked on the address bar and typed in the name of common search engine. It loaded up within two or three seconds. He was glad that it seemed to be a high-speed connection.

The man paused for a moment, trying to think about what to type into the search bar. It would obviously make no sense to look for information about merfolk to find a medical kind of answer. They were only a legend to nearly everybody. Except of course to Ludwig. He sighed, drumming his fingers on the table while trying to think for the most appropriate words.

He was finally able to come up with something, even if it probably wasn't the most accurate description of his situation.

Ludwig typed in 'saltwater fish in freshwater'.

Plenty of results came up as soon as he clicked the search button. Unfortunately, most of the first ones described the opposite of what he was looking for. It seemed that more people wondered about freshwater fish being placed into saltwater.

Though, one result looked promising. He clicked on a link to a website where someone asked, 'Why can't saltwater fish live in fresh water?' The chosen answer said something about diffusion and osmosis in saltwater fish. That sounded promising. He clicked 'back', and then typed in the search bar next to his original words, 'diffusion'. He clicked search again.

More search results came up for freshwater fish put into saltwater. And a few were people asking the same question that Ludwig wanted to know, but no one had answered. Though, the first one on the second page looked promising. The title was, 'What would happen to a saltwater fish if it was put into fresh water?'. The caption underneath said, 'In terms of osmosis. I know the fish would die, but could someone explain why or how?' Underneath that were plenty of answers. Ludwig felt slightly optimistic.

But when he scrolled down his face fell.

'He'd die a horrible death.'

'It would be like taking a person from a room with oxygen and putting him into a box with no oxygen.'

'A slow death !'

'Freshwater would leech out all the salt from its skin. Saltwater fish require the salinity to maintain balance of salt in their skin.'

That particular message seemed to explain perfectly as to why Gilbert's lips didn't taste salty anymore, providing that the info this person was giving was accurate. Though at the same time, everyone else's answers made it sound more like he should have died a long while ago. Then again, Gilbert really wasn't just a fish… Ludwig knew he was getting close, though. People's answers were getting longer and more detailed as he scrolled further down.

'The saltwater fish has a mechanism to maintain the water in its body and pump out the salt. When you put that fish in freshwater, with nearly no salt, water rushes into its cells and dilutes its electrolytes. The fish has no mechanism to get rid of the excess water so it most often dies of hyponatremia (very low sodium levels).'

Hyponatremia. That sounded like something that a human could get. And the explanation about saltwater fish sounded logical. If he looked up that term, he could probably find what he was looking for.

Ludwig went back to the homepage of the search engine and typed in 'hyponatremia'. It came up with plenty of results from medical websites. He clicked on the result below the encyclopedia result.

'Hyponatremia. Definition:

Hyponatremia is a condition in which your blood level of sodium is abnormally low.

Sodium, an electrolyte, helps regulate water levels in the fluid in and around your cells. In hyponatremia, one or more factors — ranging from an underlying medical condition to excessive water intake during endurance sports — cause sodium levels to drop. When this happens, your body's water levels rise, and your cells begin to swell. This swelling can cause many health problems, from mild to severe.'

The man knew he was getting somewhere now. He hated that he even had to look up these things, and wished that Gilbert was correct weeks ago when he said 'water is water, I'll be fine'. But at least now he could probably keep the merman from dying.

_Set him free back into the ocean, where he belongs…_

Ludwig shook the thought out of his head. He knew that he would have to send the merman back. There was no way that Ludwig could afford how much it would cost to treat the pool with special salt, and… he himself would have to go back home soon, too…

Ludwig reasoned it out, though. If he were to set Gilbert free now, he would die right away. He was currently too weak to survive on his own. And the man wasn't ready to say goodbye, either…

Ludwig took a sip of his lukewarm coffee to get rid of the lump feeling in his throat. He clicked on 'Symptoms' underneath the definition.

'Symptoms: Nausea and vomiting, headache, confusion, lethargy, fatigue, appetite loss, restlessness and irritability, muscle weakness, spasms or cramps, seizures, decreased consciousness or coma.'

That was it. All of the symptoms that Gilbert was going through fit into this perfectly. Although Ludwig wasn't experienced to know the difference between muscle spasms and shivering, the only things that didn't happen, or at least not yet, were seizures and coma. Those would probably happen if he didn't do anything to help Gilbert.

Being that he was a sort of cross between a fish and a human, if would make sense that he could contract Hyponatremia at a faster rate than humans. It was pretty much the perfect balance.

He exited out of the Internet browser. He knew that the cures listed in later pages would be hospital and/or medication-based, though he obviously couldn't do either of them.

But Ludwig had a few ideas to try on his own. That included an additional thing or two to add to his grocery shopping.

:::

((Quick afterword, you can find those posts that Germany was reading online. So I give reference/credit to the real people who answered those questions a long while ago.))


End file.
